Chasing the Sun
by justwanttologin
Summary: Bella gave up her plans for the man she loves but then she wonders if the life she has is the life she wants.
1. Chapter 1

Sunshine

"How long has it been?" Paul asks me.

"2 weeks. But she has all summer, and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if she sends divorce papers instead of coming back. I should've listened to Jake, she was never meant for here." I tell him. He looks at me with pity and I hate it.

Bella moved here her last year of high school because her mom wanted to follow her new husband's baseball team around. She tries to pretend she doesn't hate it here but she does. Her mom moved her around a lot but she was always drawn to sunny big cities. This is a dreary small town.

Bella was pretty much counting down the days till college in Florida when she met me according to Jake, who besides me and maybe her mom knows her better than anyone. She stayed here for me. My whole life is here, I was born here, I can't imagine giving that up. I want to raise my kids here.

Bella doesn't want kids. We never thought to discuss it before we got married a month after she graduated high school. It was almost a love at first sight thing. I met her through a friend of a friend at a party.

She went to college closer to here so she could come back on the weekends and she got a job as a first grade teacher shortly after she graduated. We were happy I thought. I want kids but I don't push it because we're young still, I'm hoping she changes her mind. Then right after her summer vacation started she tells me she's going to spend an undetermined amount of time with her mom, she needs some sun and she needs to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

I didn't like the sound of it but the pleading look in her eyes to please understand made me agree without argument. She calls me every night and she sounds so happy, happier than she has in months. I can't help but be hurt at the fact that's she happier without me.

"I told you she was never meant for here. Bella needs sun but she loves you Sam. You're all she talks about when she calls me. She just really hates it here. And she's trying to decide if she can get over that and live here for the rest of her life, especially now." Jake tells me.

"What do you mean especially now?" I ask him and he tries to mumble a bunch of nothing before he finally spits out that she's pregnant.

"She doesn't want to tell you until she decides. She wouldn't try to keep you out of its life or anything but she's considering raising it in Florida with her mom." He tells me and now he's looking at me in pity. I don't even like Jake that much.

"All of this over the sun? That seems dramatic for Bella." Paul tells Jake.

"Maybe but it's the only thing she's really dramatic about." Jakes tells him.

And she gave it up for me.

Bella is the most loving, giving person I have ever known. She's always thinking of her friends and family and she supports me 100% in everything I do. Last year I used all of mine and her saving to open a custom auto paint shop and she never doubted me for a second.

The only reason she didn't want kids is because she thinks she's not good enough.

"Maybe you should go to Florida and see her." Paul suggests.

"She asked for space." I tell him.

"She misses you Sam." Jake tells me.

Well that's good to know.

So I decide to show up and surprise her.

A week later I get to her mom's house and suddenly feel awkward, I don't think her mom likes me much. Her mom left her dad to get out of the small town thing and she thinks I'm holding Bella back. Maybe I am.

"Sam, Bella didn't mention you were coming." Renee lets me in surprised.

"Yeah well that's because she didn't know." She smiles and tells me she's on the beach with Ross, her baby brother, he's 3 I think.

"She misses you Sam. She just really hates that place. It's quite possibly genetic. She talks about you all the time, but she's happy here. Go see her now, but be… careful with her." She tells me warningly.

"I know she's pregnant Renee. Jake kind of has a big mouth." I tell her and she laughs.

"She was pretty sure he would tell you." She tells me.

We have a beach at home. I don't understand why she has to come all the way down here to sit at the beach.

The house is practically on the beach so I walk down the stairs and look for her. I see Ross first probably because he's running around in circles and screaming.

Bella is running after him and she looks so beautiful. She's laughing like crazy and her eyes are big and bright. She looks happier than I've seen her in a really long time.

I have to wonder if it's the distance from me or is it really the sun. Can the sun really matter that much? I grew up without much of it but she told me once her mom chased the sun. If it was rainy and stormy when they woke up in the morning they would get in the car and drive until they found sun.

"Sam!" Ross screams and runs to me. Bella looks up with her bright eyes wide and then she smiles the most beautiful smile ever and she runs to me too.

I pick Ross up in one arm and hug her with my other arm.

"I missed you baby." I tell her kissing her. Ross jumps out of my arms and we follow him down the beach.

"I missed you too Sam but I'm not ready to come home." She tells me and I think well at least she still considers it home. "I hate that place Sam, so much. I don't want to raise my baby there, our baby there." OK, there goes that hope.

"Bella I don't want you and our baby to live so far from me." I tell her and she looks at me and I can tell she's trying not to cry.

"I don't want that either. That's why I stayed. I love you so much, I thought it was enough. But now I'm just not sure." She tells me rubbing her eyes still trying to not cry.

"You're happy here." I tell her.

"I'm happy here." She agrees. "My mom bought me a house. And before you say it's because she hates you, it has nothing to do with you. She bought it before there was a you. When I was supposed to come here for college."

Before I ruined her life she means.

_A/N I wrote this thinking about the sun one day but I doubt I will continue it. _


	2. Chapter 2

Sam's POV

This week has been amazing. Bella is so happy here and I think it really must be the sun.

She's a different person here.

At home she likes to cook these huge complex meals and she stays inside most of the day, reading or spending all her time on this dumb website with pictures of stuff you want.

Here she lives off of salad and sandwiches and if she's not sleeping she's outside either with Ross or without. She swims, she surfs, and she lies in the sand and reads.

I asked her why and she said at home she hates to be outside so she has more time to do dumb things and cook complex meals.

"But here, I would live outside if I could." She told me.

I don't want to be away from her but at the same time I don't want to ask her to come back. I like this Bella better. The Bella that smiles and laughs all the time and the Bella that has so much energy I have to make her sit in my lap if I need her to sit still for a few minutes. I don't know this Bella very well but I have a feeling this is the real her.

I thought she was not athletic and introverted.

She is not introverted at all here. It's like she's been depressed since I've known her and the sun is the drug to cure her.

I like her cured.

Unfortunately I have to go back tomorrow. I have a life that goes on with or without her.

She comes back in from the water and sits down with me and grabs an apple from her bag.

"I'm going to come back Sam. Probably not until the end of the summer but I am going to come back. My job is there and more importantly you are there. We're having a baby, I can't just run away." She tells me and I can tell even as she's saying it she hates it.

I don't know what to do. I can't tell her to stay here but I can't let her come home either.

"Sam? I thought you would be happy."

"I'm happy when you're happy and you're not happy at home. So let me figure something out. Maybe I can sell the shop or maybe I can do a week on/week off if Paul will agree to the schedule. You said you have a house here, we can live there right?" I ask her and she looks at me so confused.

"You love it there. Your whole family is there and all the friends you grew up with. You don't want to give that up. You love your shop. Sam I can't let you give it all up for me."

"You gave up all your plans for me Bella and I let you. But seeing you here… so happy and active and carefree… I want this Bella. I don't want you to go back to not wanting to go outside because it depresses you. Plus it will great for you to be here for Ross while he grows up. I know you always missed out on having siblings and he'll have you even though you're old enough to be his mother. Plus he'll be close enough to the baby's age to be close to them. You know none of our friends are anywhere close to having kids."

"I have a friend here, down the street that is due a couple of months before me. It's been nice to have someone to go through it with. Won't you resent me though?" She asks quietly.

"Never baby, you are all I really need, you and this baby. I'm sorry it took me this long to figure that out. I have to go back tomorrow but I will start trying to figure out how to get back here and if it takes longer than it should I will come visit you."

"I love you Sam! I'm going to start looking for a job!" She hugs me and I know this is the right decision. I should have made it a long time ago.

I start thinking about all the ways I can make this work. If I sell the shop I could open a new one here but the main reason my shop does so well after not being open for very long is the location. There is not another one anywhere near mine so we get business from far away. It wouldn't be so easy here. Plus Paul and Jake would be out of a job and jobs aren't easy to find there.

I decide not to think about it today, I have plenty of time for that when I don't have Bella sitting on my lap feeding me grapes.

After a while she drags me into the water and we swim until she decides she's hungry.

"Let me make dinner tonight baby, I'm tired of salad and sandwiches."

"I can still cook other things and now that I know I'm not on a time limit I guess it won't kill me to spend a tiny bit of time inside."

"You don't trust me do you?" I ask her.

She laughs and says nope and runs off to the house.

Ross jumps off the couch and she spins him around and hugs her mom and her step dad.

Ross is laughing and Renee looks confused.

"She's staying. I'm going to move here as soon as I can settle things at home. Take care of her for me." I tell Renee and she hugs me.

"You're a good man Sam, I'm sorry I haven't always been so nice to you. But she's my baby and I worry about her and I know that place is toxic. I promise I will take care of her until you can be here for her. You're going to take the house right? It's kind of small because I bought it just for Bella but it has 3 rooms."

"Yes we'll take it though I hope Bella stays here until I can move down. I don't like her being alone." I tell Renee but looking at Bella.

Bella smiles and nods her head and Renee hugs me again.

_A/N I'm going to finish it but it's going to be super short… like maybe 2 or 3 more chapters. _


	3. Chapter 3

Sam's POV

I haven't seen Bella in a month and it is killing me but I know she's happy and that's the most important thing to me right now.

She found a job pretty quickly after she started looking so she's set to start the new school year. Her mom is going to keep the baby.

I haven't decided what to do yet and it's killing me how hard of a decision it is.

Bella wants me to just move here and let Paul run the shop which would work and I would still make decent money off of it but I'm kind of a control freak when it comes to my shop. Paul says I should just do the week on/week off but that's a lot of money in plane tickets.

No one is for me selling. I know that if I let Paul run it I will eventually be able to open a second shop and until then I could even get another job.

Bella will be making decent money and the house is paid for.

It's really just a matter of me trusting Paul. And I do trust him but not that much. I really need to figure it out before the baby is born though.

"Hey Sam I have to go now." Jake tells me pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah OK, I'll see you tomorrow." I tell him and he looks at me for a minute like he's trying to decide what to say.

"Sam just let Paul run the shop and go be with her. You're kind of depressing and she's not as happy sounding as she was when she talks to me. She's good at faking it but I've known her all her life. Paul is as good as you and you know it." He tells me and I feel bad for not noticing.

"I know Paul is as good as me but I feel like I'm not doing my part if I'm not even here and it seems unfair to Paul for me to be making money while he's doing all the work." I tell him because that is a big part of it.

"You own the shop, that's what most people do… Plus you would still be keeping the books because we all know you're the only one that can handle that. And you come down every couple of months to check in on it and you bring Bella because I miss her like crazy and you enjoy your wife and baby while saving up for a second shop. I thought you were smarter than me dude."

"I thought I was too." I tell him laughing. "You're right though Jake and I miss her like crazy too. You'll have to come visit her there too. She's so different there. Seeing her surf is almost unreal. And I know she misses you. I'm trying to get her to come visit but she's afraid leaving will be too hard since she would have to officially say good bye to you and her dad and my family. Eventually I will convince her to visit but with her being pregnant I don't want to push her."

"Any baby names yet?"

"We're thinking Elizabeth. OK you need to go." His dad has a doctor appointment he needs Jake to take him to.

"Yeah see you tomorrow. Tell Paul you're leaving the shop to him and soon. She's sad." He tells me before leaving out. Jerk. He knows I don't want her to be sad.

Paul walks in soon after coming from lunch and hands me a sandwich and drink he picked up for me.

I tell him thanks and he says someone has to make sure I eat since Bella is gone.

"I want you to run the shop so I can move to Florida." I tell him as I eat.

"Finally! You've been so depressing lately. When do you want to go?" He asks and I tell him I'm not sure yet, I just decided this. "Why don't you go visit her for a few days and then come back for a month and we'll settle everything that needs to be settled and you can go for good. A month away seems to be your breaking point and hers too from the way Jake talks. Maybe you should take him with you actually… he's pretty depressing lately too. You're going to have to bring her back when you come to check in."

I know he misses her too but he's not the type to admit it. She takes care of all of us when she's here. She brought us lunch on the weekends and she would invite both of them over a couple of times a week for dinner. She would probably enjoy Jake coming to visit though. But maybe he can wait until I move and then he can help set the house up. The baby is due in 3 months and there is so much to do.

"You're sure you can handle this Paul?"

"Yeah I'm sure Sam and Jake is almost as good as me."

"We'll have to hire someone else, do you have any ideas?" I ask him and he says he might and he will talk to them soon.

That night I call Bella and tell him I will be there in a few days to visit and then after a month back here I'm going to be there for good. She starts crying and saying how she can't wait and how she's so glad I'm finally letting Paul take over and how much she misses me.

Once again I feel bad for not making this decision sooner but soon we will be together like we're supposed to be.


End file.
